Switch-operating device



(No Model.)

.0. E. SIPP. SWITCH OPERATING DEVICE,

Pa'tentedD0.3 1,1895.

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WITNESSES:

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CHRISTOPHER EDSON SIPP, OF ROSCOMMON PENNSYLVANIA.

SWITCH-OPERATING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 552,206, dated December 31, 1895.

Application filed October 23, 1894. Serial No. 526,'74=1. (No model.) A

To ctZZ whom it may concern- Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER EDSON SIPP, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Roscommon, in the county of Monroe and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in.

Switch-Operating Devices,of which the fol lowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

This invention relates to automatic switchoperating devices for street-railway cars, and has for its object to provide means whereby the switch may be automatically opened or left closed by the car as it approaches the same, a further Object of the invention being to provide a simple, cheap, and perfectly-operating mechanism by means of which such opening or closure of the switch may be effected from either. platform of the car.

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car embodying my invention, and of the track upon which it rests, part of the said bed being broken away to more clearly illustrate the mechanism. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the track. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section taken upon the line a: as, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the junction of the operating-shoe and of the lever-arms.

In the practice of my invention, A designates the car, A the truck, and B a lever arranged beneath the car. These levers, somewhat removed from the lower or free ends thereof, have formed therein openings 13*, in which are secured, by bolts 0, shoes 0, which said shoes when lowered, as shown in Fig. 1, rest upon an approximate level with the track.

At each end of the car, beyond the shoes 0, the arms B have pivoted thereto vertical rods D, extending upwardly through the platforms A of the car, and having mounted thereon handles D, by which they are raised or lowered. The said rods are provided with remeans of springs E, secured to the car and bearing upon the top of the said rods and of just sufficient tension to permit said rods to be pulled out of engagement therewith when either lever is depressed or raised.

The track comprises the usual rails F, secured to the ties ,G, upon which also are mounted the rigid switch-rails F and the movable point F Upon the tie G, immediately in front of the switch, is a plate f, having a rounded flange f thereon, upon whichrests a lever H having a depression f whereby it engages the said lug f to be pivotal thereon. Upon one end of this lever, adjacent to its pivotal point, is an upwardly-projecting head or extension H, which extends through an aperture g in a plate or strip I, which is seand rests in the top of a diagonal slot h in a similarly-directed block 1', mounted upon one end of a sliding bar or plate J, which has an angular extension J at the opposite end thereof, said extension resting in a slot G in one of the ties beneath and having a groove j therein in which the point 15 of the switch rests. The lever H is of such length as to be sufficiently heavy to normally descend with such force as to engage the groove h in the head 2', and thereby actuate the plate J to close the switch to the siding. The said lever is provided with an adjustable weight H or the switch may also be normally opened or closed to the siding or main line by any other means.

The operation of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing description taken in connection with. the accompanying drawings.

The lever H being depressed and the extension H projecting through the plate I above the level of the track, the switch will be consequently closed to the siding, and if the shoes 0 are above the said extension the car will proceed along the main track. Should it be desired to open the switch, either of the rods D is depressed by means of the handle D to the position shown in Fig 1, and the lower recess d engaging with the lug e the rod will be held in such position. This depression of the rod actnates the lever B or B so that the be renewed from time to time as they wear 1 out through friction with the extension 0.

I do not confine myself to the exact formation of parts or construction of details herein set forth and illustrated.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A switch operating device, comprising levers pivoted beneath the car and working in unison, whereby the depression or elevation of one similarly actuates the other, and provided with shoes adapted to engage projections upon the track, rods journaled in either platform of the car, having recesses therein which engage lugs to hold the same in the raised or lowered positions, springs to maintain the rods in engagement with the lugs, and handles upon said rods, substantially as shown and described.

2. A switch operatingdevice, comprising levers pivoted at opposite ends to the car truck and connecting together at the center by means of a pin working in avertical slot in said truck, whereby said levers act together, and the depression or elevation of one similarly After the car has passed, the said raise or lower the same, and having recesses therein which engage lugs upon the car truck 1 to maintain the said rods in the raised or lowered positions, and springs above the rods bearing thereon to hold the same in engagement with said lugs, substantially as shown and described.

3. A street railway switch, having a bar sliding beneath the same, provided with an angular grooved extension in which the tongue of the switch rests, a block upon the inner end of the said bar, having a diagonal slot therein, a plate in front of the said bar having a lug thereon, a lever pivotally mounted upon the said lug normally depressed, and resting in the said groove in the block, a plate connecting the rails of the switch, and a head upon the lever, normally raised and projecting through the said plate above'the level of the track, whereby it may be depressed by suitable mechanism upon the car, substantially as shown and'descri'bed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention Ihavesigned myname, in presence of two witnesses, this 13th day of October, 1894.

CHRISTOPHER EDSON SIPP.

'Witnesses:

FRANK H. VASSEUR, O. A. MEYERs. 

